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Summer soccer at Minoru
Terry Girard tattooed a butterfly on his grandmother’s shoulder for her 80th birthday. He’ll be showing his work at the Second Annual West Coast Tattoo Culture Show.
Richmond Girls Soccer Association is getting ready for its busiest week of the season as the organization hosts the Provincial Cup championships and a Vancouver Whitecaps game.
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10% wage spike hits City Hall Jump due to retroactive pay increase to firefighters BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
ZONING
B&B owner incurs neighbours’ wrath BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
A bed and breakfast owner who wants to legitimize his business has become the lightning rod for what promises to be a divisive issue: Running what amounts, in some cases, to be a mini hotel in residential areas. John Falcus is one of roughly two dozen B&B owners in Richmond, many of whom do not have the proper zoning. Until recently, there was no zoning specific to B&Bs, which the city turned a blind eye to — particularly during the Winter Olympics.
‘This has become a personal issue and not a land use issue’ But now that the Games are over, the city is trying to get B&B owners to comply with new regulations, which just came into force last year. B&B owners are allowed a maximum of two rooms or two guests. Anything above that, they now need a rezoning. Falcus is the first B&B owner to apply for a rezoning to legitimize the Seabreeze Guest House at 3111 Springside Place. But he recently learned neighbours have a lot of say when it comes to rezonings, and
Falcus appears to have made some enemies on Springside Place, where his guest house has been in operation since 2006. “The people that don’t want it are very vocal,” Falcus told the News. “It seems this has become a personal issue and not a land use issue,” Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt observed Monday night. Falcus has the support of some neighbours, but not the ones fronting Springside Place — the ones most affected by
things like traffic and parking. Gloria Gausboel said the B&B does not fit the cul-de-sac and that Falcus has not been responsive to the concerns of his neighbours, which includes exceeding the room occupancy that he is allowed. “We have been told to mind our own business,” Gausboel told council Monday. “It is an acrimonious situation. I frankly believe that the City of Richmond needs to revisit the R3 zoning.” see Steves page 4
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Canada cake ... Families line up for a piece of cake at the Brighouse Library’s Celebrate Canada Fair at the weekend.
The number of city hall employees making $100,000 or more in Richmond doubled in 2009, compared to the previous year. It was part of an $8.6-million jump in wages — a 10 per cent per cent spike — in a single year. But it was staff expenses and the other taxable benefits that gave Coun. Greg HalseyBrandt the most angst — that and the way the annual financial report was handed to council for rubber-stamping Monday. “Some of them are pretty darned high,” Halsey-Brandt said. He was referring to staff expenses listed in the 2009 annual financial report, which he and all councillors approved Monday. The city spent $84.5 million on staff remuneration in 2008, and $93 million in 2009 — a 10 per cent jump. In 2008, only 62 city hall employees made $100,000 or more. That jumped to 122 city staff making $100,000 or more in 2009. The wage spike is largely due to a collective agreement signed with Richmond firefighters in 2009 that included a pay increase retroactive to 2007. In other words, the number of employees making $100,000 or more should drop this year. The pay city hall employees receive is reported on three different lines in the financial statements: base salary, benefits and other, and expenses. In one case, the “other benefits” of one employee ($68,991) actually exceeded his salary ($60,904). Questioned on this, Andrew Nazareth, general manager of business and financial services, explained that “other” benefits include things like banked vacation time, and in the case cited, the employee had asked for a final payout. Some of that banked time can get mountainous. Catheryn Carlile, for example, earned see Halsey-Brandt page 6